The Hindu : A case for removal of U.P. Speaker

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 24, 2004

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Other States - Uttar Pradesh

A case for removal of U.P. Speaker

By J P Shukla

LUCKNOW, MARCH 23. The nomination of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker, Kesri Nath Tripathi, to contest the Lok Sabha election as the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from the Machhli Shahr constituency has prompted non-BJP parties to demand his resignation on moral grounds.

It was improper for Mr Tripathi to stand for the Lok Sabha as a BJP nominee while holding the constitutional post of the Speaker, Opposition leaders said.

The U.P. Samajwadi Party chief, Ram Saran Das, reacting to Mr Tripathi's nomination said that by accepting the BJP candidature he had undermined his own constitutional status.

The Samajwadi Party might consider taking steps to remove him if he continued to stick to the chair of the Speaker, Mr Das added.

Rashtriya Lok Dal leaders, Kokab Hamid and Anil Dube, have also hinted at plans to make an issue of Mr Tripathi's decision to contest the election while continuing to hold the post of the Speaker.

The Speaker was considered to be above party politics. When he had been nominated to contest the elections as a candidate of the BJP, it was expected of him to relinquish his post, Mr Dube said.

Mr Tripathi was elected Speaker after the BJP-BSP Government headed by Mayawati had taken over the reins of the State. When the Mayawati Government was ousted and Mulayam Singh Yadav succeeded her as the Chief Minister, the Congress raised the demand to remove Mr Tripathi as he represented the forces of communalism. Mr Yadav, however, did not agree and said traditionally there was nothing wrong in Mr Tripathi continuing to hold the Speaker's office. The post of the Speaker had a special significance and it was not necessary for him to quit with the fall of a government, he said.

The Congress interpreted the remarks of Mr Yadav as some kind of tacit understanding between the Samajwadi Party and the BJP. As it now becomes clear that the Speaker would be an official BJP candidate during the elections, the Congress has renewed its demand to remove Mr Tripathi.

The UPCC president, Jagdambika Pal, reiterating the stand of the party, said that Mr Tripathi could no longer claim his political neutrality after accepting the BJP ticket to contest the elections. In all fairness he should have quit on his own. The Samajwadi Party should understand that enough was enough and if Mr Tripathi did not resign, the Chief Minister should take steps to remove him, Mr Pal said.

Mr Tripathi has expressed the opinion that there was nothing wrong for the Speaker to contest such elections and there was no need for him to resign. Not everyone in the BJP would, however, agree. Senior BJP leaders hinted that the issue could be taken up at the highest level and Mr Tripathi would be persuaded to resign.

Even if technically he could not be forced, Mr Tripathi's continuance in office might be politically damaging for the party, a senior BJP leader said.

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A case for removal of U.P. Speaker